Sethurama Iyer to Sam Alex; top 6 smartest characters from Malayalam movies that you will not forget

Who doesn’t love a smart and witty character, who has the knack to solve any problematic situation using his/her intellect? The reason for love towards a smart character is evident from books themselves, for example, the character Sherlock Holmes created by Arthur Conan Doyle, the detective character Hercule Poirot created by Agatha Christie, all have a huge fan base especially due to their character trait of having a witty and intelligent mind. A smart character should not necessarily be the protagonist of the film, he/she could be a side character or even an antagonist like the Lago character in William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Othello’. Coming to Malayalam films, there are a couple of smart and witty characters who hold a separate place in the audience’s hearts. Let’s take a look at the top 6 smartest characters from Malayalam films.

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The fictional character ‘Sethurama Iyer’ played by Mammootty in the ‘CBI movie’ series is considered as one of the top smartest characters from Malayalam films. ‘Sethurama Iyer’ is a pious intelligent Tamil Brahmin who first appeared in the 1988 film ‘Oru CBI Diarykkurippu’ which was directed by K. Madhu under the script of S.N Swamy. The character was inspired by a police officer named Radhavinod Raju who was the first chief of India’s National Investigation Agency during the year 2009. The specific skill set that ‘Sethurama Iyer’ holds while deducing each crime scene and getting to a conclusion is what made him one of the iconic intelligent characters in Malayalam cinema

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George Kutty, played by Mohanlal in the 2013 crime drama film ‘Drishyam’, is one of the characters whom we can’t really say whether he is a protagonist or an antagonist. But one thing is true, ‘George Kutty’ is definitely a smart and intelligent guy. Although the acts that ‘George Kutty’ did with his skill set is against law, he has his own reasons to cover it up. Being an orphan and a school dropout, George Kutty uses his knowledge from watching films to cover up a crime that his family was accused of. Jeethu Joseph, who was the writer of the film has actually excelled in creating the perfect building blocks for an intelligent character without losing the emotional core of the storyline and also by keeping a perfect pace through his well-executed screenplay.

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Sam Alex, another smart fictional character created by Jeethu Joseph in his 2013 thriller crime film ‘Memories’ and character was played by actor Prithviraj. Sam Alex is a police officer who resorts to alcohol when his wife and daughter get killed in a tragedy. Although his mind is preoccupied with the tragic events that happened during the day his family was killed and is resorted to drinking, Sam Alex possesses a specific skill set that never fails to impress the audience while deducing a crime scene. Towards the end of the film, Sam Alex is shown as a man who quit drinking and has completely redeemed himself.

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Dr. Sunny Joseph is a quick-witted psychiatrist who has appeared in the epic psychological horror film ‘Manichitrathazhu’ directed by Fazil and released in 1993. The character was played by Mohanlal and is considered one of the most iconic characters in Malayalam film history. Having an intelligent mind to sort out things coupled with a sense of humor is what makes Dr. Sunny Joseph different from other smart characters. The third act of the film ‘Manichitrathazhu’ is where we get to see the most brilliant side of Sunny Joseph and his brilliant act led to one of the most memorable and satisfying movie endings of all time.

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The titular fictional character from the 2018 drama thriller movie ‘Joseph’ could be termed as one of the most underrated smartest characters from Malayalam movies. The character trait for Joseph could be directly related to ‘Sam Alex’ from memories who had to resort to drinking after the loss of his family. By the very first introduction of the character ‘Joseph’ in the film, he uses his intellect in solving a crime and finding the culprit from the crime spot itself. The film ‘Joseph was a huge success and actor Joju George, who played the character Joseph, got wide appreciation from the audience.

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Probably most of us haven't even heard of this fictional character ‘Melvin’, played by actor Kunchacko Boban in the 2016 thriller mystery film ‘Vettah’, and that's one of the reasons why this brilliant character could be termed as an underrated one. The character ‘Melvin’ starts off in the movie as an antagonist and really pulls off this cat and mouse game, confusing the audience with his high intellect and tactics. Melvin brilliantly traps two police officers who were going after solving the missing case of a known celebrity actress. The whole plot of the film deals with the brilliant mind game played by ‘Melvin’, confusing both the police officers and the audience as well.

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